A recent a study however, conducted by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, shows some surprising results when it comes to the environmental impact of the standard plastic bag.

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The study – which gauged the organic lifecycle of seven common materials used for shopping bags – sought to identify the most harmful materials along 16 different environmental parameters, including climate impact, ozone impact, human and environmental toxicity and water use.

The results showed that plastic bags made out of “LDPE plastic”, like the ones found in grocery stores, have by far the lowest impact on the environment, according to the Swedish news site Aktuell Hållbarhet.

The researchers added that plastic bags should ideally be used as a garbage bags rather than disposing of them directly as waste. Other “heavy” plastic bags made out of polypropylene, recycled PET-plastic and polyester by contrast, should always be recycled.

The biggest environmental impact was assigned to the organic cotton bag; it has to be used at least 149 times to offset its climate impact, compared to 43 times for a regular paper bag.

However, the researchers were also careful to point out that all bags, regardless of material, should be reused as many times as possible before they end up as trash.